Experimentee
Jan 16th, 2006, 01:35 PM
I didnt see many good matches today, usually it was the better players playing like crap, and not taking their chances. Best match was probably Pironkova vs Venus, more for the excitement than the standard of tennis.
Amanmuradova def Randriantefy
Both players didnt seem to be playing well. They made a lot of easy errors just trying to keep the ball in play while rallying. Akgul had a pretty big serve and hit a few winners on her forehand. In the first set Dally was terrible and couldnt keep the ball in play. In the 2nd set Dally played better and hit a lot of great dropshots, every time she hit a dropshot it was a winner. I left when Dally won the 2nd set.
Sprem def Bondarenko
I saw this from the end of the 1st set till the end. It was also a bad quality match. Sprem hit really hard and was grunting loudly, and most of the points ended in unforced errors. Bondarenko hit almost every ball about a foot long, and Sprem had more variety in her errors, with some going long, wide and into the net. Sprem did a better job of keeping the ball in play than Alyona though, until she was 5-2 up and 40-0 up, then she choked the lead with a string of errors, but then finally won. Sprem looked very nice in a short pink flowing dress with a high waistline.
Hantuchova def Obata
I only saw the last half of the 3rd set, Hantuchova was playing ok, but Obata played pretty badly. Obata kept hitting the ball short with no power, and when she went for the lines she missed.
Pironkova def Venus
I saw the 3rd set of this. Venus played really badly, making more unforced errors than normal. Pironkova kept the ball in play well, hitting her groundstrokes deep, and hit some good forehands too. Venus missed all her opportunities, she served for the match but lost it, and when serving at 7-8 down and 30-30 she had a short ball putaway and hit it into the net to bring up match point, then hit the next one into the net too, not even giving Tzveti a chance to choke :rolleyes:
The crowd were mostly for Pironkova I think, but there was a good appreciation for Venus, and a lot of support for her too. When it got to the latter stages of the set, I had to explain to people around me why Pironkova hadnt won when she was 7-6 up :o
Harkleroad def Peng
Peng was not at her best today, and Ashley was pretty solid although didnt do anything special. Peng was clearly a better player and had her chances but didnt take them. Peng was 4-3 up, and had 15-40 on Ashley's serve, had an easy short ball putaway on her backhand, and hit it out, if she'd made it, she would've been 5-3 and serving. She lost the game, and then on her next serve, was 40-15 up and then lost that game too, then at 30-30 on Ashley's next serve she got a bad call and lost concentration and the set. In the 2nd set Peng played extremely bad, hit just about every ball out and could hardly win any points on Ashley's serve, even though it wasnt a big serve. She didnt fight at all and it was a very disappointing performance from Shuai.
Kuznetsova def Breadmore
This was moved to Court 6, and it was quite weird to have an Aussie against a recent Grand Slam champion on an outside court. The crowd was mostly for Lauren, and there was a big 'Go Lozza' sign. There were ppl cheering for her to get games, when it was 30-30 they'd be like "2 more points Lauren!" Kuznetsova was clearly in a different class, she overpowered Lauren although Lauren was holding her own in some of the rallies, getting the ball back and in the 2nd set Kuznetsova was missing a lot, so Lauren got 3 games. But then at 3-3 Sveta cut out her UE's and won the set 6-3.
Bychkova def Koukalova
This ended pretty late, at about 8pm. I only saw the 3rd set, Klara was playing like crap, she was hitting it harder and dictating play, but making a lot of errors and Bychkova was counterpunching well. At 3-1 up after a long rally which Klara won, Bychkova looked in pain, limped to the side and called the trainer, I'm not sure what it was, but she put an icepack on her neck and had her leg massaged. I think it might have been a calf cramp. When she resumed, she seemed fine though, and kept winning as normal. Klara looked despondent even when she'd won the game, and instead of going to sit down on the change of ends, she go straight to the other end, leaned against the back wall, dropped her racquet, and looked downhearted. When she walked off after the match was over she was crying.
Amanmuradova def Randriantefy
Both players didnt seem to be playing well. They made a lot of easy errors just trying to keep the ball in play while rallying. Akgul had a pretty big serve and hit a few winners on her forehand. In the first set Dally was terrible and couldnt keep the ball in play. In the 2nd set Dally played better and hit a lot of great dropshots, every time she hit a dropshot it was a winner. I left when Dally won the 2nd set.
Sprem def Bondarenko
I saw this from the end of the 1st set till the end. It was also a bad quality match. Sprem hit really hard and was grunting loudly, and most of the points ended in unforced errors. Bondarenko hit almost every ball about a foot long, and Sprem had more variety in her errors, with some going long, wide and into the net. Sprem did a better job of keeping the ball in play than Alyona though, until she was 5-2 up and 40-0 up, then she choked the lead with a string of errors, but then finally won. Sprem looked very nice in a short pink flowing dress with a high waistline.
Hantuchova def Obata
I only saw the last half of the 3rd set, Hantuchova was playing ok, but Obata played pretty badly. Obata kept hitting the ball short with no power, and when she went for the lines she missed.
Pironkova def Venus
I saw the 3rd set of this. Venus played really badly, making more unforced errors than normal. Pironkova kept the ball in play well, hitting her groundstrokes deep, and hit some good forehands too. Venus missed all her opportunities, she served for the match but lost it, and when serving at 7-8 down and 30-30 she had a short ball putaway and hit it into the net to bring up match point, then hit the next one into the net too, not even giving Tzveti a chance to choke :rolleyes:
The crowd were mostly for Pironkova I think, but there was a good appreciation for Venus, and a lot of support for her too. When it got to the latter stages of the set, I had to explain to people around me why Pironkova hadnt won when she was 7-6 up :o
Harkleroad def Peng
Peng was not at her best today, and Ashley was pretty solid although didnt do anything special. Peng was clearly a better player and had her chances but didnt take them. Peng was 4-3 up, and had 15-40 on Ashley's serve, had an easy short ball putaway on her backhand, and hit it out, if she'd made it, she would've been 5-3 and serving. She lost the game, and then on her next serve, was 40-15 up and then lost that game too, then at 30-30 on Ashley's next serve she got a bad call and lost concentration and the set. In the 2nd set Peng played extremely bad, hit just about every ball out and could hardly win any points on Ashley's serve, even though it wasnt a big serve. She didnt fight at all and it was a very disappointing performance from Shuai.
Kuznetsova def Breadmore
This was moved to Court 6, and it was quite weird to have an Aussie against a recent Grand Slam champion on an outside court. The crowd was mostly for Lauren, and there was a big 'Go Lozza' sign. There were ppl cheering for her to get games, when it was 30-30 they'd be like "2 more points Lauren!" Kuznetsova was clearly in a different class, she overpowered Lauren although Lauren was holding her own in some of the rallies, getting the ball back and in the 2nd set Kuznetsova was missing a lot, so Lauren got 3 games. But then at 3-3 Sveta cut out her UE's and won the set 6-3.
Bychkova def Koukalova
This ended pretty late, at about 8pm. I only saw the 3rd set, Klara was playing like crap, she was hitting it harder and dictating play, but making a lot of errors and Bychkova was counterpunching well. At 3-1 up after a long rally which Klara won, Bychkova looked in pain, limped to the side and called the trainer, I'm not sure what it was, but she put an icepack on her neck and had her leg massaged. I think it might have been a calf cramp. When she resumed, she seemed fine though, and kept winning as normal. Klara looked despondent even when she'd won the game, and instead of going to sit down on the change of ends, she go straight to the other end, leaned against the back wall, dropped her racquet, and looked downhearted. When she walked off after the match was over she was crying.